


To the Victor Goes the Spoils

by Lady_Lizz



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Kai tries to be a Wingman (he doesn't try very hard), Kai's Jacket Rental Service, Multi, Ren's Issues With Expressing Affection, ive eaten like pound of m&ms in the time it took to write this so take that how you will, the & tags are less friendships and more angry rivalries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29970102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Lizz/pseuds/Lady_Lizz
Summary: After an unfortunate series of events that lead to Kai and Asaka spending some time alone together, Kai accidentally decides to try and 'help' with the progression of Ren and Asaka's relationship....he really didn't mean to get so involved.
Relationships: Kai Toshiki & Narumi Asaka, Kai Toshiki & Suzugamori Ren, Narumi Asaka & Tokura Misaki, Narumi Asaka/Suzugamori Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	To the Victor Goes the Spoils

**Author's Note:**

> I always start writing with a clear idea in mind and then just cascade further away from that idea with every sentence
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Misaki and Aichi were the only Miyaji members to make it into Card Capital that afternoon; Kourin was busy with work, Naoki was needed at home, and Shingo had to grab the latest issue of Vanguard Monthly from the bookstore. 

“...I-It was such a weird dream!” Aichi said, barely controlling his giggling. “And Koutei was there— I don’t know why? Wait, maybe I do. Shingo said something about an interview with Team Ceaser in that magazine of his, didn’t he? I guess they were on my mind already, so...”

Misaki was about to respond, but she entered the shop and caught one glimpse of a familiar white school uniform paired with shiny dark blue hair and she dropped her school bag, along with her jaw. Aichi paused, followed her glare, then nodded and picked up the bag for her.

“Shin,” Misaki addressed her uncle, who was typing away at his computer past the front counter. “Why is Asaka Narumi here?”

Shin looked up. “Hm? Well. She’s a Vanguard fighter, Misaki, and this is a card shop.” 

“Who’s she fighting?” Aichi craned his neck to see. “Oh, it’s Kai! I’m gonna go say hello.” 

Misaki groaned but followed him over to their table, where Kai had just won the match. Asaka frowned at her full damage zone. “Let’s fight again!” She ordered. Kai was already shuffling his deck. 

“They’ve been at it since Kai and I got here…” Miwa muttered, stepping over to join Aichi and Misaki in watching the fight. “Asaka’s gotten better since last time I’ve seen her, but you know Kai. She hasn’t won yet.”

“Why’s she even here? Where’s the rest of Fukuhara?” Misaki asked. Miwa simply shrugged.

Kai ended up beating her. Again. Asaka growled and slammed her fists down on the table. Kai watched her for a moment as he collected his cards, then sighed and spoke. “Does this have something to do with Ren?”

She glanced up at him with a hurt expression. “How’d you know?”

 _Because everything about you has something to do with Ren,_ Kai thought. “Because Ren’s about the only thing we have in common, aside from Vanguard.”

Asaka hummed sadly in thought. “He and I… had a bit of a… disagreement, earlier.” Their audience gasped. Kai glared at them. “He was angry, understandably, and Tetsu told me I should give him some time to cool off. So… I came here instead of Foo Fighter today.”

“When can you go back?” Misaki asked flatly. 

“I don’t know. A day or two?” She pouted. “I can’t bear being around when he’s upset with me, and Ren’s grudges can last anywhere between a minute and—” A glance toward Kai. “—years.” 

“I’m sorry, Asaka. This must be awfully tough on you.” Aichi offered. “If you can’t head home yet, then do you, um, have somewhere to stay...?”

Asaka blinked a few times as if she hadn’t thought of that.

“Well,” Aichi continued. His eyes shifted to Misaki for a second, who was pointedly looking away. “I’d say you could crash at my house, but I’d have to check with my mom first. And I’m not sure how comfortable you’d be with, well, me. Or Emi.”

“Our place upstairs is pretty cramped. Not to mention it’s a mess.” That was an overstatement. Misaki wasn’t quite a clean freak, but she wasn’t far from it. She _was,_ however, very territorial. Especially toward one of her greatest rivals. Misaki was sure Asaka didn’t much care for staying with her, either.

There was a brief silence. Then Miwa mentioned that, “Kai here has a whole apartment to himself…”

 _“What?”_ Kai whipped around, dropping his deck on the table. “She can’t stay with _me._ My apartment’s tiny! And I’m a guy!”

Misaki tutted at him. “I’ve already used the small living space excuse, Kai. Besides, you may be male, but I can imagine no circumstance ever in which _you’d_ make moves on a _girl._ Or anyone, for that matter. Both you and Aichi.”

“She’s got a point.” Miwa agreed. Kai didn’t know whether he should appreciate their trust in him or, considering the circumstance, be mad about it. 

“But, I—”

“Plus, the two of you have already been fighting for a while!” Aichi chirped. “That’s a great way to start a friendship! Right, Kai?”

Kai made a strangled sort of noise, then hung his head in defeat. “Fine. Sure. _Fine._ She can stay at my place. _For one night.”_

Aichi and Miwa beamed and high-fived. Asaka sat quietly, wondering what she’d just gotten herself into.

~~~

Kai wasn’t kidding when he’d called his apartment small. The door opened to a little living room with a couch, coffee table, and television. It opened up to the kitchen area in the corner, with just enough room for necessities and a bit of counter and cabinet space. There was a short hallway off to the side leading to the bedroom and bathroom. Ren’s office at the Foo Fighter building was probably larger than all the rooms combined. 

Asaka also noted how Kai’s apartment smelled faintly of spices— most notably, cinnamon. 

Kai entered his room while Asaka gawked from the doorway. He returned a minute later without his uniform blazer, which was _weird_ to see, and headed into the kitchen. “Any food preferences?”

Asaka looked at him, confused. “What?”

“I’m cooking.” Kai explained.

“Oh.” She paused. This. Was _weird._ “No, I’m fine with anything. Thank you.”

He nodded and disappeared behind his cupboards. 

Asaka had always held a mixed opinion on Toshiki Kai. On one hand, Ren seemed to like Kai, so she felt that she should too. On the other hand, Ren seemed to like Kai, and that led her to… not _dislike_ Kai, exactly. She just… 

She wished Ren would look at her the same way he looked at Kai, with that overwhelming passion and excitement. Even in cardfights— _especially_ in cardfights. Ren was the type of person to give every fight he took part in his full effort, but it was so obvious how he’d take that extra step with Kai. Throw in those extra provocations, speak just a bit louder when announcing rides or guards or triggers. 

Asaka supposed that her most prominent feeling toward Toshiki Kai was jealousy. 

Then, when she thought it over again, she noticed how Kai never seemed to reciprocate those feelings or glances or— well, maybe he also got a little too involved in their cardfights, but not in the same ways. Asaka couldn’t understand why. 

“I don’t get it at all.” She mumbled to herself, settling down on the floor beside the coffee table and watching Kai work. After some time, he flicked off the stove and washed his hands and added some finishing touches Asaka couldn’t see from her place on the floor, then brought over two plates of beef stroganoff that looked so delicious they were practically glowing. Asaka stared down at the food for a solid ten seconds. Weird weird weird weird _weird._

“I make it for Miwa a lot.” Kai explained, sitting diagonal to her and flicking on the television. The evening newscaster filled the awkward holes in their conversation. Then it cut to commercial, and the stiff mood returned. 

“...why Card Capital?” Kai asked, strictly avoiding eye contact. 

It took Asaka a moment to process it as a question, and another for her to realize that she should respond. “I— Well. Our club usually practices in our clubroom, so I… don’t actually know many other shops in the area. Besides, you frequent there.” Kai visibly twitched. Asaka hurried to correct herself. “Th-That is, _you_ as in Ren’s greatest rival. Ren often used you to vent his frustrations, so I… thought that I could as well.”

Kai cocked a brow. “‘Vent his frustrations’?”

“We’ve… heard a lot about you.” She looked down at the table and thought back. “Before his fight with Aichi at Nationals, and before your little reunion, I don’t think you know how much he really said about you. Ren felt very, um, strongly, about some things.” 

And then Kai— _Toshiki Kai_ actually _laughed._ It wasn’t much, and it sounded more scoff-ish than anything, but it was far more than Asaka had ever expected him capable of. “He’s such an idiot. Don’t put it lightly, he hated me.” 

“It sure isn’t hatred anymore,” Asaka muttered, then quickly snapped to attention. “You take that back! Ren is _not_ an idiot, ever.”

“Psh. Sure.” The commercials had ended a while ago, so the silence wasn’t as awkward this time around. Kai spoke up again when they cut away to the weather forecast. “...Ren. You like him, right?”

“Of course I do.” She sat up straighter. “He’s, well, he’s so—” 

“I don’t want to hear all of that.” Kai interrupted. There was another pause, even shorter than the last. “Even a person as weird as Ren... does need someone to care for him like that. He never got that kind of…” He trailed off and shook his head. “My point is, his insides are just about as messed up as his personality. You’ve gotta know what you’re getting into.”

“Ren’s not—” Asaka started, because Kai’s words surely sounded like insults, but Kai turned and looked her in the eye for the first time that evening, as if daring her to correct him, and she found that she couldn’t. She frowned and stayed quiet. 

Kai sighed and turned away again. “You’re always fighting for his attention, right?” 

“Y-Yes. He never really…”

“Stop that.”

“Huh?”

“Does Ren seem like the type of guy to want a girl who’s constantly throwing herself at his feet?” He said harshly. Asaka had never thought of it that way before. “If you want him to notice you, make _him_ do the chasing. Switch roles.” 

“I… I wouldn’t even know how to…”

“You’re doing it right now. You aren’t with him.” Kai picked up his plate and stood. “I’m sure that, at some point today, Ren has turned around and wondered why you weren’t there behind him. If he wants to find out why, he’ll come to you.” 

With that, he stalked off into the kitchen again. Asaka would need a while to process everything that just happened.

Was… Was _Toshiki Kai_ giving her _advice?_

~~~

Kai strolled into Card Capital with Asaka in tow the following morning. Neither of them had school, so Kai made breakfast and they ate in more awkward silence and it wasn’t as if either wanted that to continue the whole day, so the shop seemed their best option, even if it was still fairly early. Misaki offered them a tired, “Good morning.” when they entered, but she dramatically rolled her eyes when she recognized Asaka was still sticking around.

Miwa and Naoki came in a bit later, Naoki excited to have someone new to fight with. Aichi entered a half hour after them, yawning as if he’d just woken up. He never was a morning person.

Aichi’s sleepy eyes sharpened as he sat down at Kai and Miwa’s table and stared to the center of the shop, where Asaka and Naoki were having a cardfight.

“Something wrong?” Miwa asked him.

“No, it’s just—” He scrunched up his face further. “Asaka’s outfit. It’s, um, familiar?”

“What do you mean by…” Miwa turned around and squinted at her. His eyes widened when he caught it, and he spun back around and rubbed his temples with one hand. “Kai. Kai, that’s your jacket.”

“Yeah. What about it?” Kai said defensively. “She only brought her school uniform with her, and it’s cold out. She’s probably still freezing in that skirt, but I’d assume the jacket helps a little.”

Miwa sighed as Aichi broke out into giggles. “That was nice of you, Kai. You’re getting soft!”

“What? No, I’m not. That was simple hospitality.”

They both just laughed at him some more. 

After a few rounds of cardfights and ten minutes worth of playing with Assisticat, a new challenger entered the shop. Misaki welcomed them casually, but froze when she recognized who it was.

“Hello, Misa-Q! It’s been a while!” Ren sang with an animated wave. He looked to the back of the shop, where everyone had simultaneously halted their activities to stare. Kai and Aichi’s hands hovered over Assisticat, who, _also_ recognizing Ren, hissed and bolted away to safety. “Hiya Kai, Aichi, others.” He hopped over to the fight table. “Asaka! We’ve been wondering where you ran off to.”

Asaka stiffened, deliberately keeping her attention on the cards in front of her. She’d been rotating through opponents nonstop all morning, probably accustomed to the rigorous training regime of the Foo Fighters, and was now up against Miwa. “G-Good morning, Ren.” 

Ren hesitated, as if waiting for her to say more, but she only rested one of her units and declared an attack. “Yeah… ‘morning.” He said with a slight frown. “D’you wanna head back to Fukuhara with me? After that match, of course. Tetsu said he had some event he wanted to talk with us about…”

Asaka shot a glance toward Kai, who was feigning disinterest in their exchange, before smiling at Ren and saying, “S-Sorry, I’m kind of busy here. I’ll come back, er, later. Maybe.”

“...Oh.” Ren said. It was so rare for Asaka to turn him down on anything, much less something as simple as leaving a card shop, though it’s not as if it affected him all that much whether she decided to go or stay, so why did that make him feel so— 

Ren’s gaze swept over her in an almost comically slow manner, then straight over to where Kai and Aichi sat. Aichi jumped and pointedly looked away. Kai kept side-eyeing them. Oh.

“Kai,” He addressed calmly, sliding into the chair opposite them. “What’d you do to Asaka?” 

“I don’t know what you mean.” 

Ren narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me, now. She disappears after school yesterday and doesn’t come back all night, then today I find her here, in _your_ shop, wearing _your jacket._ I’m coming to my own conclusions and frankly, I do not like what this implies.” 

“I-It’s definitely not what it looks like.” Aichi defended.

“I’d assume not. But _something_ happened. So why won’t she look me in the eye?”

“I gave her some advice.” Kai said simply, unintimidated. “She clearly needed it.” 

Ren leaned back with a scoff. “You? Advice? Don’t make me laugh. What kind of advice could _you_ have given to _Asaka.”_

Kai looked down with a smirk. “I think this is the most you’ve ever talked about her to me. Out of, what, concern? You must really care for her.” 

“Wh—” Realization slowly dawned on Ren’s features. “...who _are_ you? Surely not Kai.” 

Kai stood, pushed his chair in, and snarkily said, “Your childhood friend,” before confidently striding out of the shop. He heard Ren swear and Aichi give one of his awkward chuckles from behind him. He also heard someone hurrying to follow him, and he assumed it to be Miwa, but— 

“He’s never looked at me like that before!” Asaka gushed, falling into step beside him as if that were something normal for her to do. “It was so intense! But not like anger intensity, just…” Kai honestly couldn't tell if she was ecstatic or devastated over this. She gasped. “He… He really paid attention to me. _Was_ he angry?”

“I’unno.” Kai mumbled with a vague shrug-like gesture. He made a beeline for a nearby vending machine. 

“Would you… mind if I continued to stick around?” Asaka asked. “I won’t stay over anymore, of course. I will head back to Fukuhara later, but I’d like to come to Card Capital some more. Just to see if…” 

“Tokura’ll mind.” 

“Hmph. I’m giving her business, she should be happy with her new customer. Oh—” They stopped in front of the machine and Kai reached out to insert a coin, but Asaka bumped his hand aside and slid her own money in first. Kai stared at her incredulously. “Allow me. You’re helping me, after all.”

Kai sighed and waited as she bought a canned coffee for both of them.

~~~

The next afternoon, Asaka came to Card Capital again, just as she said she would. She challenged Kai to a fight almost immediately, and Miwa was drowning in laughter because he knew for a fact Kai didn’t initially intend to spiral this far down the rabbit hole. 

Ren also returned soon after that. He shot a glare toward Kai and Asaka's match before planting himself at the counter and grinning at their friendly neighborhood cashier. 

“Misa-Q! Fancy seeing you here. Care to help me out with something?” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“Aw, come on now.” He leaned on the counter, almost _across_ the counter, and reached out a hand to idly twirl a strand of her hair around his finger. “It’s _such_ an adorable nickname, though.” Ren said in a low voice. Misaki stood still as a statue and stared him dead in the eye.

Both of their gazes crept slowly over to the side. Asaka was holding her breath as she watched the exchange. Even Kai was shooting them a side-eye. He sighed and turned back to his cards.

“Pay attention, it’s your turn.”

“Oh! R-Right…” Asaka’s attention returned to their game.

Misaki slapped Ren’s hand away the second Asaka was no longer looking. He laughed and pushed away from the counter, out of her personal space. “Wooow, putting up with little ol’ me? You want her out of your turf almost as much as I want her back at Fukuhara.”  
“It’s nothing personal, I just can’t stand her.” Misaki grumbled. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “You’re sure you actually want her back? This isn’t some stunt to mess with… whatever Kai’s up to?” 

“Gee, Misa-Q, even _I_ have a soft spot for my teammates.” Ren told her with a teasing smile. “Asaka’s my vice captain, one of our ace players. She’s quite helpful, and I really like her.” He froze and blinked a few times, as if perplexed by his own words. “Her— Her company, I mean. She’s fun to be around.” 

“Uh-huh.” Misaki said, unimpressed. “You do realize you’re the whole reason she left in the first place. _You_ were mad and _she_ couldn’t handle it.”

“What?” He furrowed his brow in concentration as he thought back. “When was I mad at Asaka...?” 

“You’re terrible.” 

“Oh! _Oh.”_ Ren hopped up in realization, then deflated with a slight pout. “I… may have... found a stray kitten, a few days ago. And brought it inside.” His face paled. “And Asaka… may have put it back outside… without knowing… And I may have, um, gotten a tad upset.”

“Over a stray cat.”

“His name was Mr. Whiskers—”

“All of this over a—” Misaki planted a palm to her forehead. “Kai’s going to _murder_ you if I don’t do it first. That poor girl had to stay with _Kai_ because of a _cat.”_ She removed the hand in favor of pointing at him fiercely, then at the back of the store. “Go talk to her and get her _out of my shop._ And apologize!”

Ren sighed. “Alright, Misa-Q, I’ll do my best.”

“And don’t call me that!”

~~~

“I’m not sure how much longer I can do this.” Asaka said in a high-pitched whisper as she began her attack phase against Kai. She was only half paying attention to the fight at this point, and half watching whatever was going on near the register. The two were only chatting now, it appeared, but they were quiet enough that Asaka couldn’t hear their conversation. Ren _seemed_ normal, as normal as Ren could get, but just earlier, with the hair…

Asaka scowled. She’d gotten so caught up in being here and having Ren look at _her_ that she hadn’t even considered he could look at _someone else._ And, come on, now that someone else was Misaki Tokura? She’d prefer he flirt with _Kai_ over giving her a further reason to rival _Misaki Tokura._

She’d most prefer he’d flirt with her. But, well. 

“No guard…” Kai muttered. Miwa leant over his shoulder to peek at his thin hand as he drew a damage check. Hold on, was that his sixth— 

“Asaka!” Ren chirped, suddenly standing beside her. Asaka dropped her own cards in surprise. “What’re you up to?”

“Oh, R-Ren!” She stuttered, gazing up at him with a bright smile. Then she remembered she wasn’t supposed to do that, and she turned back to the table. “I’m, um, training! With—” She cleared her throat. “Kai.” 

“Hm, is that so? Hi, Kai.” 

Kai sighed. 

“Listen. I…” Ren glanced back toward the counter. Misaki was glaring at him. “...am apologizing!” He said much louder for her to hear, then back to normal volume. “For, ah, worrying you about the kitty fiasco. I wasn’t— Well, that’s not right, I was pretty mad, as Mr. Whiskers _was_ a wonderful little gentleman. However, that young white-haired fellow succeeded in retrieving him for me, much to Tetsu’s dismay, so. That anger has long since passed. Please forgive me.” 

He added a bow for emphasis. Asaka frantically glanced between him and Kai, not sure what to do. Kai was smirking. That didn’t help her at all.

“On that note,” Ren stood up and straightened his shirt. “I’m not sure what else either of you want from me. Asaka, please come back. There’s four stacks of paperwork on my desk and I have no clue what to do with them.”

“That’s your only reason?” Kai asked flatly. 

Ren groaned and threw his head back like a child. _“No.”_ He whined, turning back to them and extending a hand to Asaka. “You are very talented and I enjoy your presence. Satisfied, Kai?” 

“It’ll do.”

“But, um,” Asaka blushed. She still couldn’t tell where she should be looking. “W-What about, er, training?”

Kai glanced to his damage zone. Miwa laughed from his seat beside Kai and slapped him on the back. “He lost, didn’t he? Training’s over!”

“That’s not really what I…” 

“He’s noticed you enough.” Kai muttered, the smile on his lips betraying his grumpy tone. “Get out of here.”

Asaka practically glowed. She bounced out of her seat and turned to Kai, wordlessly shrugging off his jacket and handing it over. Ren chuckled and beckoned with his still-outstretched hand, so she took it. The contact sent a jolt through her whole body. 

“Hmph. Look at that.” He said, holding their hands up together. Without warning, he threaded together their fingers, and Asaka nearly collapsed. “I saved the princess from the mean old dragon. I win, Kai!”

Ren tugged her out of the shop like that, Asaka looking the happiest she had all week. Kai’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. Miwa leaned over him, concerned. “Uh, Kai?” 

“I’m the winner here.” Kai muttered evilly. “The closer those two are, the less likely Ren is to bother _me._ Take back your _princess,_ Ren, but don’t think you’re the victor of this little _game.”_

“Uh—” Miwa was even more worried now. “K-Kai?”

“I’m only bothered that you guys saw me talking with Ren and didn’t come over to help me handle him.” Misaki piped in, sporting her own good-natured smirk. “No thanks for helping get rid of her either, Kai. You were the reason she stuck around.”

“You were strong enough to handle both of those things on your own.” Kai told her.

“I still would’ve appreciated assistance, you know.”

“H-Hey, everyone!” A nervous voice called from the doorway. The two of them dropped their harsh glares and creepy smirks to turn and greet Aichi. “I-Is something happening? It’s awfully, well, stiff in here. And I just ran into Ren and Asaka outside—”

All three of them fell into laughter, relieved that this whole ordeal was finally over. 

Aichi stayed at the doorway, confused and awaiting an explanation.

———


End file.
